VOTING BEGINS IN RACE TO FILL STATE SENATE SEAT

Mail ballots went out this week for the special election to fill the remaining two years on the term of office for the 40th state Senate District.

San Diego County Registrar Michael Vu, whose office is accepting early, walk-in voting, said more than 123,000 ballots were dropped off at the post office for distribution.

Voters will decide among two Democrats and two Republicans who will fill the unexpired term of Democrat Juan Vargas, who was elected to the House of Representatives in November.

State Assemblyman Ben Hueso, D-San Diego, is widely considered the one to beat in the March 12 election.

He has more than $130,000 to spend on the race while the other candidates reported raising no money when finance disclosure forms came due at the end of January.

Also running is Democrat Anna Nevenic of Riverside County, and Republicans Hector Gastelum and Xanthi Gionis of San Diego County.

Gionis ran third to Vargas in the congressional primary last year. Since announcing her candidacy for the Senate, a for-profit, one-room university in Carlsbad founded by her and her family has come under scrutiny from state regulators who say it is not approved to offer any degrees.

Gionis disputes that.

Because the four-year term has not expired, the election is being conducted using the district lines that existed in 2010 when Vargas was elected. The district has been redrawn for the 2014 election. It currently includes 220,051 voters in San Diego County, nearly 71,000 in Riverside County and nearly 55,000 in Imperial County.

“Because it’s a special election, we’re expecting a turnout of about 40 percent,” Vu said.

Residents have until Feb. 25 to register and vote.

If no one gets 50 percent of the vote plus one on March 12, a runoff election between the top two vote-getters will take place on May 14.